Odishatv Bureau
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to ensure that the Orissa Excise Bill-2005 received Presidential Assent to enable the state government to take strong action against bootleggers.

As the state government has complied to all queries on the Bill raised by different departments, there should be no delay in getting the President`s assent, Patnaik said in a letter to Chidambaram.

"As there is nothing else pending with the state government, I would request you to follow up the matter," Patnaik wrote.

Rejecting allegation that the Bill was delayed due to the state`s negligence, Patnaik said the government received certain queries from the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance on February 15 by fax.

"The views of the state government on the comments of the departments were sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 24," Patnaik said.

The state government also claimed that had the Bill secured President`s Assent, it could have taken strong action against liquor traders following the recent hooch tragedy which claimed the lives of 40 people in Cuttack and Khurd districts.

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